Elastic-fluid turbine.



P. HODGKINSON & W.,A. BOLB. ELASTIC FLUID TURBINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 27, 1909 Patented Jan. 14,1913.

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P. HODGKINSON 11 W. A. BOLE.

- ELASTIC FLUID TURBINE.

APPL-IOATION FILED AUG. 27, 1 909.

1,Q50,1 36. v Patentd Jan.14,1913.

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F. HODGKINIQON & W A. BULB ELASTIC FLUID TURBINE. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 27, 1 909. 1,050,136. Patented Jan. 14, 1913.

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IVITNESSES:

PJHODGKINSON & W/A. BULB. ELASTIC FLUID TURBINE.

APPLIGATIQN FILED AUG. 27, 1909. I

' Patented Jan. 14, 1913.

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' IILJII r .ZBY TTOR FVHODGKINSON & W. BULB.-

ELASTIG FLUID TURBINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 27, 1909.

' Patented Jan. 14, 1913.

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Em 1 Wiz zkwbifiaze W1 TNESSES UNITED STATES i 015 HODGKINSON; OF'EDGEWOOD PARK, AND WILLIA'EMfl. BOLE, OF"PITTSIB'URGH, I

PENNSYLVANIA, A'SSIGrNORS, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS; TO'THE CODONIAL' TRUST I COMPANY, TB USTEE, OF PITTSBURGH; PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OE'PENN sYLyAnIA;

ELASTIC-FLUID r TURBINE.

specificationof Letters Patent. Patented Jan. 1 19,1913.

7 Application filed August 27, 1909. Serial No. 514,946.

Toall whom'z't may concern:

Be it known that WGYFRANOISWHODGKINQ SON, a subject of the King of Great Britain of Pennsylvania, and WILLIAM'A. BOLE, a-

and Ireland, and a resident of Edgewood Park, in the county of Allegheny and State citizen of the United States, and a resident of Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have made a newand useful Invention in ElastioFluid Turbines, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to elastic fluid turbines and has-for an object to produce means for. automatically regulating the relative adjustment bet-ween the rotatingand stationary-elements of turbines.

, In some types of turbines, it is customary to-employ very close lateral clearances betweenthe rotating and stationary'elemen ts and-it is, therefore, necessary'to maintain amaccurate longitudinal or axialadjustment ences in temperature, and-undercertain con ditions distort and thereby destroy the fine clearances necessary.

An object of this invention is to produce. means for adjusting the rotor element ofthe turbine-relative to the stator element and for automatically moving. it longitudinally to correspond with the variations of position of the stator so that at all times and under. allconditions therelative positions of the rotor and stator elements where the close clearance is desired are practicallythe same. This and other objects we attain in aturbine embodying the features herein described and illustrated;

Inthe drawings accompanying.- this application and forming aapart thereof: F1gure I is a partial side elevationof at'urbine embodying our invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of Fig. 1; Fig. .3 is an end elevation; Fig. at is a section along the line A-A of Fig. 1;

andFig; 5 is a.partialksectionshowingzalde tail. of. our invention.

In: theturbine herein illustrated as elmbodying'. our invention-it is desired to main tain av close. clearance between. a. certain tion 8 bfwhich is shown in Fig. .5. The'rotor elementii s journaled'in suitable bearings located at either end of t-he-casing andlis provided with an adjusting. device partially shown in Fig. 5, whichshifts the rotor ele-- mentto maintaintheclose clearances necessary.

The rotor is provided) with; afdrumof,

large diameter,-.whi'ch isinclosed within anenlarged portioni12 of the casing, between which and the drum it is desired to maintain aolose lateral clearance" The adjusting. de-

rot longitudinally. within the casing. so

that the. axial or longitudinal position of the drum isvaried zto correspond-to changes in position of the.

portion of the casing which inclosesit.

.or adjacent to the portion. of. the casing Where the closest adjustment is required.

'Correspondingyokes l5 and 16 aremounted.

ou the. housing of. the turbinebearing ad; jacent to the longitudinal oraxial adjusting. device. The yoke 15 is mounted in ways il'Z' so that it is capable of sliding axially of the. turbine to-correspond to the variations of'position of the yoke 13 and is connected by rigid rodsor struts 18 and 18 'tothe yoke 13. The yoke 16is hung beneath the.

bearing housingof the turbine by long bolts 19 and is rigidly secured: at itse'nds to the yoke 14:. by struts 21. The bolts 19 are of.

vicsfl s, therefore, employed for shifting the Yokes l3-and 14; areri'gidly. seoured'to the turbine casing-by'bolts and. are. located at.

ing device by a system of links and levers, through which the rotor is automatically shifted to vary its axial posit1on. V

The adjustlngdevice comprises a sleeve 23 which is rigidly secured to the rotor element and two reciprocating blocks 2% and 25, which surround the sleeve 23 and which are actuated by the vertical strut 22 through the agency of the links and levers. A disk 26 is secured to the sleeve 23 and is rigidly connected with the rotor element of the turbine by a tube 27, which extends through the hollow interior of the extension 8. The outer peripheral face of the sleeve 23 is provided with a series of annular depressions or channels 28 which interleave with a series of semi-annular collars or ridges with which the blocks 24 and 25 are provided in the manner of a thrust hearing.

The blocks 24 and 25, taken together, completely surround the extension 8 and are preferably separated from each other on a horizontal plane through the axis of the rotor. The block 24.- is actuated by a lever 31, which .is provided with a ball-shaped head 32 coiiperating with a socket 33, formed in the block. The lever 31 ismounted on a pin 341-, which is journaled in the bearing housing and which is provided, exterior to the casing, with a rigidly mounted lever The lever 35 is pivotally connected to a link 36 and is provided at the free end with an adjusting nut 37. The block 25 is actuated by a similar system of links and levers, which consists of a lever 39, cooperating with a socket 40 formed in the block 25, a'pin 41, on which the lever .39 and a lever 42 are mounted, and a link 43, which is provided with an adjusting nut 44. The links 36 and 43 extend through the vertical strut 22 and the nuts 37 and 14 are respectively employed to adjust the blocks 24: and 25 with reference to the sleeve 23 and the strut 22. Each adjiisting nut is provided with a locking device 16, which prevents a change in the preliminary adjustment after ithas been made.

The adjusting nut 37 is so located and the block so arranged that the only motion that can be transferred to the block by the strut 22 is in the direction of the arrow, designated by the numeral 47 in Fig. 5, and the nut 44 is so located and arranged that the only motion that can be transmitted to the block 25 by the strut 22 is in the direction of the arrow, designated by the numeral 48 in Fig. 5. Thus it will be seen that the proper adjustment of one half of the block may be made with respect to the other.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: After the preliminary adjustment of the blocks 24 and 25 is made, the adjusting nuts 37 and 14 are locked in place, the rotor being in the operating positions for ordinary conditions and the close clearances, above referred to, between the rotor and the stator hollow extension 8 of the rotor.

being accurately adjusted. If, after the adjustment is made, the portion 12 of the easing moves longitudinally of the turbine due to any cause, the yokes 13 and 14: and the connecting mechanism shift the blocks 24 and 25 to such positions that the rotor is shifted an amount corresponding to the movement of the portion 12. As is apparent from the description of the mechanism, a movement of the portion 12 in one direction will acutate one of the adjusting blocks to move the rotor in one direction and amovement in-the other will actuate the other block to move the rotor in a reverse direction.

In carrying out this invention, we have employed means which substantially eliminate all difficult-ies due to temperature changes external to the turbine. We circulate oil or other cooling liquid through the struts 18, 18 and 21 and the tube 27 and thereby avoid relative variations, due to difference in temperature, which would aifect the adjustment of the apparatus. The cooling liquid is introduced into the system through a supply pipe 51, which communicates with one of the struts 21 (it being understood that the struts are hollow). From the strut 21 the liquid is conducted to the strut 18 by a pipe 52. The strut 18 communicates with the strut 21 on the other side of the turbine through a system of .pipes 53 and the strut 21 communicates with the strut 18 through a pipe 5 1. The liquid is dischar ed from the strut 18 into a chamber 55, formed in the end of the hearing housing, through a pipe 56. The chamber 55 communicates through a tube 57 with the tube 27, which is arranged within the The tube 57 extends from the walls ofthe chamber 5 through the disk 26, permitting longitudinal variations in the position of the shaft. 'The oil discharged from the tube 57 first passes through the tube 27 and then is discharged through home 78 into the space between the tube 27 and the walls of the extension 8, from which it is discharged through ports 59 into a chamber 60, which communicates with the oil circulating system. The oil utilized in the system need not necessarily be a cooling agent, as its only function is to maintain the several portions of the operating mechanism at an equal temperature. Obviously the direction of flow of the oil or fluid is immaterial and may be controlled to suit convenience.

With such an arrangement the rotor element is moved axially to correspond with the longitudinal variations in the position of the portion 12 of the casing and the relative lateral positions between the portion 12 and the adjacent portion of the drum is maintained practically constant. g

It is apparent that with such a apparatus casing. .What we clalm 1s:

the axial adjustment of the rotor may be varied to correspond to the variations which may occur in any part of the turbine casing. It is also apparent that a number of such adjusting devices may be utilized in connection with a rotor which comprises a. number of drums so mounted on a supporting shaft that they are capable of-relative axial movement. Under such conditions, the different portions of the rotor would move automatically to correspond to the movements of the, adjacent portions of the 1. In combination with an elastic fluid turbine, a rotor, a stator, an adjusting device for said rotor comprising means for adjusting the rotor longitudinally relative to said .stator, and means for maintaining said adjustment during variations in position of said stator. l i

2. In combination with a rotating element,

an inclosing casing comprising a stator, an-

adjusting device for said element and stator actuated means connecting said casin and said device for varying the axial POSitIOIIOf said rotor. V a

3. In combination with an elastic fluid turbine, a rotor, a stator, an axial adjusting means for said rotor and means, dependent on the variations of position of said stator, for varying the position of said rotor.

'4. In combination with an elastic fluid turbine, a rotor, a stator and means, dependent on the variations in position of said stator, for varying the axial adjustment of said rotor.

5. In combination with a rotatable element, a stationary element cooperating therewith, a longitudinal adjusting ,device forsaid rotatable element and means, de-

pendent upon the variations in position of I said stationary-element, for actuating said adjusting device and causing it to shift said rotatable element.

In "testimony whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names this 25th day of August, 1909. Y

FRANCIS HODGKINSON. v WILLIAM A. BOLE. Witnesses:

C. W. MCGHEE, Guo. A. WALKER; 

